Subaru rally cars with great wastegates are better than coffee

The noise produced by rally cars is an acquired taste. A massively overboosted 4-cylinder engine bouncing off the rev-limiter just isn't musical. It's angry. It is the sound of a war between the driver and the trees.

However, there are moments of bliss between the melee as the wastegaste releases maximum boost pressure, and to me, that's better than coffee.

Check out today's video of Mike Jelinek's Subaru STI rally car running hill climbs in both 2012 and 2013. The noise from the flat-4 itself is the archetype for angry, but what sounds like an HKS super-sequential music for the birds.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
Road & Track participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.